Role profiles
MPI employs more than 3,000 staff and, given the broad scope of what we do, we offer a wide range of roles across our different locations. These include fishery, biosecurity, and food safety roles through to information technology (IT), human resources (HR), legal policy analysts, veterinarians, and scientists.
For a 'snapshot' of some of the careers on offer at MPI, read the role profiles, or watch one of our YouTube videos of staff in action.
Food safety and biosecurity
Scientists and veterinarians
MPI Verification Services (MPI VS) offers work opportunities in veterinary, general, and agricultural sciences. MPI VS provides a range of food safety, biosecurity verification, and certification services to support market access strategies and setting standards. MPI VS employs several hundred staff – about 270 of these are registered veterinarians.
- Find out what MPI vets do
- Register your interest to work for MPI as a veterinarian
- Information for overseas applicants
Protection and response
Dog handlers
MPI's dog handlers work with detector dogs at New Zealand's ports of entry to find biosecurity risk items that aren't allowed into the country.
You can learn more about working with detector dogs by:
- reading how to become a dog handler
- watching a YouTube video of biosecurity detector dogs in training
Quarantine officers
Quarantine officers work to prevent harmful pests and diseases from entering New Zealand and monitor and manage the eradication of pests if they do get in. They lead New Zealand's biosecurity system at the front line – airports, ports, mail centres, and cargo facilities.
You can check in with our Careers Centre to see when our next quarantine officers intake will be.
Compliance officers (fisheries)
One of the roles of compliance officers is to provide advice to the public about recreational fishing rules.
Voluntary honorary fishery officers
Honorary fishery officers help full-time fishery officers ensure recreational and non-commercial fishers are obeying the law.
Fishery observers
Fishery observers help us to manage our fisheries sustainably. They collect a range of information on board commercial fishing vessels including the fish being caught, working conditions, and fish biology.
Information technology (IT)
MPI's IT specialists work in a wide range of roles developing practical solutions for industry and the community. An example is the mobile smartphone app on current fishing rules and limits in local fishing areas:
Law and policy
Analytical and legal
MPI staff work and consult on behalf of the government on a wide range of trade and policy issues, both domestically and internationally.
MPI staff consult our trading partners and regulators on food safety standards and biosecurity measures to ensure that our export produce gets to market. Watch videos on YouTube about:
Growing and producing
Export market access and trade
Staff in MPI's market access team work on a variety of primary production, food safety, and biosecurity issues with our trading partners to assure that our products are safe and suitable. Learn more about growing New Zealand's exports and the work of market access and trade development:
Funding and programmes
MPI partners with industry to look for innovative ways to improve production through our Primary Growth Partnership Programme. One of our partners, Precision Seafood Harvesting programme, won the Supreme Award at the 2014 New Zealand Innovators Awards for a revolutionary design in commercial fishing technology.
Our analysts worked with a number of Māori land owners across the country to bring together smaller land blocks to build economic scale.
Read more about MPI's governance and organisational structure and growing our exports:
Vacancies
You can check for current job opportunities or subscribe to job alerts in our Careers Centre.
